Experts say a certain tick bite might make you allergic to red meat
Three species are associated with a red meat allergy that can manifest in response to a bite, researchers found recently.
The allergy is known as alpha-gal syndrome, which is also a potentially life-threatening condition. Scientists think that the sugar molecule certain tick species carry, called alpha-gal, gets into people's bodies, can disrupt their immune systems, and lead to a possibly deadly allergic reaction.
Previously, it was believed that lone star ticks, which are found east of the Rocky Mountains, were the only species capable of triggering the disease.
'It was a very surprising finding to us,' Hanna Oltean, an epidemiologist at Washington State Department of Health, told Science News on Tuesday.
Oltean was the corresponding author of a study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The study described the 2017 case of now-retired wildlife biologist Cathy Raley, who woke up with hives and later stopped being able to swallow at her home in Washington state.
Another study detailed a similar incident in 2022 when a 45-year-old Maine woman discovered a western black-legged tick on her left bicep after walking on a wooded path. Nearly 10 days after the bite and following a meal of roasted rabbit, the unidentified subject began to experience abdominal pain. That pain continued after eating red meat.
'A severe episode of diarrhea and vomiting hours after beef consumption prompted the patient to visit a healthcare provider 20 days after the tick bite,' the study's authors said. The woman was able to resume eating red meat ten months after her first symptoms.
The tick that had bitten her was a deer tick. There are dozens of species found across the United States.
'U.S. health and public health professionals should be aware of AGS outside the established lone star tick range,' the researchers warned.
Even among healthcare providers, alpha-gal syndrome is not very well-known. There have been about 110,000 suspected cases across the U.S. from 2010 to 2022. However, researchers think that may be an undercount. Delayed symptoms can also make it hard to diagnose.
Developing alpha-gal can cause a serious allergic reaction called anaphylaxis that can be deadly without treatment with a shot of prescription medicine called epinephrine, also known as adrenaline.
There's no cure for the condition, and reducing exposure is the best defense against tickborne illness.
Oltean says ticks commonly come out and seek 'blood meals' between March and May. However, warmer temperatures driven by climate change have meant ticks appear earlier, stay later, and thrive in a wider geographic range.
'It's important for people to be aware of the risk so that they can take appropriate precautions,' Oltean said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Medical News Today
a day ago
- Medical News Today
Small change to how you walk may help relieve osteoarthritis pain
Osteoarthritis is a chronic, degenerative condition of the joints that most commonly occurs in people over the age of condition can affect any joint in the body, but is most common in the knees, hands and there is no cure, the condition can be managed by staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking medications to relieve a study has found that modifying your walking style may relieve the pain and slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis as effectively as commonly used is the most common form of arthritis — a condition that causes pain and inflammation in the to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 33 million adults in the United States have osteoarthritis, and the likelihood of developing the condition increases hugely as you age. Worldwide, almost 40% of people aged over 70 have it can affect any joint in the body, osteoarthritis is most common in the knees, causing pain and problems with walking. Treatments can alleviate symptoms, but cannot cure the CDC suggest several ways to help delay the onset of osteoarthritis and manage symptoms, including:keeping physically active as you get oldermaintaining a healthy weightprotecting your joints from injuryover-the-counter or prescription medicationsusing crutches or a walking stick if needed.A new study by researchers from the University of Utah, New York University, and Stanford University, suggests that learning to walk differently could both slow the progression and relieve the pain of knee research, published in The Lancet Rheumatology, found that changing the angle of the foot while walking could be as effective as commonly used medications in managing symptoms of knee Kruse, MD, primary care sports medicine physician, of Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles, CA, not involved in the research, commented to Medical News Today that:'The results of this study by Uhlrich et al., examining the effect of gait retraining on knee osteoarthritis outcomes, are encouraging. They successfully showed positive outcomes through a personalized intervention, that optimized joint unloading. Additionally, identifying an intervention that not only improves management but also helps to slow the progression of osteoarthritis is very promising.''The improvement in pain is significant'Valentina Mazzoli, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and co-lead author of the study, explained that the research 'showed that shifting the angle of the feet while walking can reduce knee pain in osteoarthritis.'According to Mazzoli:'The improvement in pain is significant, and of the same magnitude of what is typically achieved with pain medications, but without any of the pharmacological side effects. This makes gait retraining a very promising and effective option for early stage knee osteoarthritis.'The participants in the study were aged 18 or over. All had early-stage medial compartment knee osteoarthritis, graded levels 1 to 3 on the Kellgren-Lawrence scale (where 4 is severe osteoarthritis) by a radiologist. The 68 people included in the study could walk unaided for 25 minutes on a treadmill, had a body mass index (BMI) of less than 35 kilograms per square meter (kg/m²), and reported medial knee pain of 3 or more on an 11 point scale (NRS-11).Small adjustments reduced pain and joint degeneration All participants underwent MRI scans and had their gait analyzed in the laboratory before being randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the intervention group or the control told them they were involved in a 'a two-group study investigating which type of personalised foot progression angle walking training was most effective,' to ensure they did not know which group they were the first 6 weeks of the study, participants visited the gait laboratory once a week. The intervention group were trained to change their foot progression angle (toe-in or toe-out) by 5 to 10 degrees to reduce the load on the knee. The sham group underwent the same training, but their natural angle of foot progression was the 6 training sessions, they were encouraged to practice their walking technique for at least 20 minutes per day until it became natural. During the 1-year follow up, they attended the laboratory 3 times, so researchers could check that they were maintaining the prescribed angle while the end of the study, the intervention group reported a larger reduction in pain than the control group, with the intervention group's NRS pain score reducing, on average, by 2.5, and the control group's by 1.3 from the beginning of the strikingly, MRI scans showed that the intervention group had less degeneration of their knee cartilage than the control group.'An exciting finding of this study is the potential slowing of cartilage degradation with gait retraining. While this holds substantial potential, further study is necessary to understand whether or not the amount of demonstrated slowing will translate to improved clinical outcomes over time.'– David Kruse, MDCould this be an effective alternative to medication?The researchers suggest that gait retraining could become an effective intervention for managing knee osteoarthritis. However, Kruse advized that gait retraining is not always straightforward: 'An individual's gait, or walking pattern, is influenced by a unique chain of complex musculoskeletal structures. Understanding and examining normal gait patterns can be challenging. Consequently, making biomechanical changes to a person's gait pattern can be very difficult.''Understanding what changes are beneficial can be the first hurdle, followed by the challenge of establishing the alteration of gait as the individual's new normal,' he advised. 'Additionally, to address the complexities of the process, the analysis and re-training require specialized insight and expensive equipment. Therefore, modifying gait patterns is not a simple process.'But, Mazzoli told MNT, new technologies could help solve these problems:'Recently developed AI-based technology allows [us] to estimate knee loading and determine the best personalized foot angle for each patient. This could really allow gait retraining to become a readily accessible treatment. We really want to make use of this new technology, so that this gait modification can become widely available in the clinic for patients with knee [osteoarthritis].'
The Independent
29-07-2025
- The Independent
Parents want more warnings after a brain-eating amoeba killed their boy on a South Carolina lake
Two weeks after Jaysen Carr spent the Fourth of July swimming and riding on a boat on one of South Carolina 's most popular lakes, he was dead from an amoeba that lives in the warm water and entered his brain through his nose. His parents had no clue the brain-eating amoeba, whose scientific name is Naegleria fowleri, even existed in Lake Murray, just 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Columbia. They found out when a doctor, in tears, told them the diagnosis after what seemed like a fairly regular headache and nausea took a serious turn. Jaysen, 12, fought for a week before dying on July 18, making him one of about 160 people known to have died from the amoeba in the U.S. in the past 60 years. As they grieve their son, the boy's parents said they were stunned to learn South Carolina, like most other U.S. states, has no law requiring public reporting of deaths or infections from the amoeba. The lake wasn't closed and no water testing was performed. If they hadn't spoken up, they wonder if anyone would have even known what happened. 'I can't believe we don't have our son. The result of him being a child was losing his life. That does not sit well. And I am terrified it will happen to someone else," Clarence Carr told The Associated Press as his wife sat beside him, hugging a stuffed tiger that had a recording of their middle child's heartbeat. The best Fourth of July ever Jaysen loved sports. He played football and baseball. He loved people, too. As soon as he met you, he was your friend, his father said. He was smart enough to have skipped a grade in school and to play several instruments in his middle school band in Columbia. 'He either loved you or he just didn't know you,' his father said. 'He was the type of person who could go to a jump park and five minutes later say, 'This is my friend James.'' Friends invited Jaysen and his family for the Fourth of July holiday weekend on the lake, where Jaysen spent hours swimming, fishing and riding on an inner tube that was being pulled by a boat. 'Mom and Dad, that was the best Fourth of July I've ever had,' Clarence Carr remembered his son telling him. A headache suddenly gets worse A few days later, Jaysen's head started to hurt. Pain relievers helped. But the next day the headache got worse and he started throwing up. He told the emergency room doctors exactly where he was hurting. But soon he started to get disoriented and lethargic. The amoeba was in his brain, already causing an infection and destroying brain tissue. It entered through his nose as water was forced deep into his nasal passages, possibly from one of the times Jaysen jumped into the water. It then traveled along his olfactory nerve into his brain. The amoeba caused an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Fewer than 10 people a year get it in the U.S., and over 95% of them die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The amoeba is fairly common. Researchers are still trying to figure out why the infections are so rare. Some people have been found to have had antibodies, signalling they may have survived exposure. Others may die from brain swelling and other problems without the amoeba ever being detected. The amoeba is found in warm water and the infection is almost always fatal The amoeba becomes dangerous in very warm water and for years has been seen almost exclusively in the summer in the southern part of the country. But a few recent cases have popped up in Maryland, Indiana and Minnesota, scientists said. The CDC said 167 cases of the infection have been reported in the U.S. between 1962 and 2024, and only four people have survived. Boys seem most susceptible, but researchers don't know if that is simply because they are more likely to jump and dive into the water or play in sediment at the bottom of lakes. The amoeba can show up in hot springs, rivers and, on rare occasions, in tap water. That's why doctors recommend using sterile water for cleaning nasal passages with a neti pot. The only way to be completely safe is to not swim in lakes or rivers and, if you do, keep your head above water. Pinching your nose or using nose clips when diving or swimming can keep water out of your nose. Parents want others to know the danger from the brain-eating amoeba As he sat in an intensive care hospital room with his son, Clarence Carr couldn't help but think of all the people on the lake. He wondered if any of them had any clue about the microscopic danger in that water. 'There are entire families out there on pontoon boats, jumping off, just like our kids were having the time of their lives,' he said. 'It very well could be their last moments, and they are unaware of it.'
The Independent
24-07-2025
- The Independent
Breakthrough weight-loss drug works without nausea or vomiting, scientists reveal
A breakthrough has been made in weight-loss drugs after scientists discovered a new medication – known as TDP – that works without causing side effects of nausea or vomiting. Millions of Americans are already using Ozempic and other GLP-1 class drugs to lose weight. While largely successful, the shots can cause uncomfortable gastrointestinal side effects. Those symptoms and others have landed patients in emergency rooms in recent years, with 25,000 visits occurring from 2022 to 2023, according to scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers say the new experimental rival largely forgoes those issues although how it works to curb appetite is still being researched. 'This paper shows for the first time that giving a smaller version of octadecaneuropeptide in the periphery is still effective to improve body weight and metabolic control without side effects,' Caroline Geisler, an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky's College of Pharmacy, told Gizmodo this week. Octadecaneuropeptide, commonly referred to as ODN, is a protein produced by brain cells called glia that support the nervous system. The researchers used ODN to create the drug TDP. 'Now we know that [glia] play a large role in sensing and communicating the status of the body, and we hope that by targeting a glial signaling molecule, we can engage many energy-regulating pathways in the brain and avoid the side effects of nausea and vomiting,' Geisler said. In studies, the researchers inserted ODN into the hindbrain of rats, which contains the brainstem and cerebellum. The cerebellum is a part of the brain that controls movements and other cognitive processes, such as language and attention span. Once the rats were treated with ODN, they lost weight and improved their ability to control their blood sugar. Whereas when the researchers blocked ODN, the animals showed a weaker response to treatment with the popular GLP-1 drugs. They also dosed mice, rats, and shrews with TDN. The drug also improved blood sugar control, causing weight loss without nausea or vomiting in the rats for over a week. The shrews did not vomit either, and the drug appeared not to have effects on the animals' movement, body temperatures, and heart rate. However, the results, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, are only a proof of concept. The study's authors are hoping to test the drugs in people next. 'We have an optimistic timeline that we could be ready to start clinical trials within two years,' Geisler said.
